Back in August, when Alcorta Elementary School hosted its annual Meet-the-Teacher Night, principal Michele Josselet was on hand to greet all the returning and new students to the campus.

But there was one special student she was looking forward to seeing, not only because she would be taking her annual photograph with her, but because it would undoubtedly be a much better time together than their first meeting three years ago.

Michele and Dusty in 2019 when incident occurred

Just before the start of the 2019-20 school year, Josselet – in her first year as the principal at what was then called Jackson Elementary School – was putting the finishing touches on Meet-the-Teacher Night when she and three other administrators standing in the foyer heard a woman screaming down the hallway.

“This wasn’t just someone yelling at someone else,” Josselet recalled. “This was a terrified scream. She was screaming ‘Oh, my God! She’s choking; she’s not breathing! Somebody help!’ ”

Josselet turned to see what the commotion was all about and then ran down the hallway where 2-year-old Dusty May was choking on a piece of hard candy. Josselet, who has been trained in CPR and other life-saving techniques, immediately scooped up the toddler and began doing the Heimlich Maneuver on her to try and dislodge the candy.

“I gave her three pretty hard hits to the back, and then she started coughing and crying and she spit the piece of peppermint candy out into my hand,” Josselet said. “I threw it away, got her a drink of water, and handed her back to her family.”

Dusty’s guardian, Ruby Stamper, was the person screaming for help. She had tried to get the candy dislodged herself to no avail.

“After we met her older sister’s teacher, we were walking back down the hallway when Dusty tripped over her own feet and started making sounds like she couldn’t breathe,” Stamper said. “I tapped her back as I became aware she had swallowed the candy. I picked her up and turned her back and started hitting her below the shoulder blades. I did it three times and it didn’t help. I started to panic, and my husband grabbed her and hit her twice in the same spot. Dusty couldn’t breathe and there was no sound. I started to scream for help as tears started to roll down my cheeks. A woman ran up to us, grabbed Dusty and did the Heimlich, and the candy shot out of Dusty’s mouth.”

A couple of days later, as students were entering the building for the first day of school, Dusty’s older sister, Harley, thanked Josselet “for saving my sister’s life.” Then Dusty ran up to Josselet for a first-day-of-school picture, which has now become a tradition. So when Meet-the-Teacher Night rolled around before the 2022-23 school year, Dusty and her older sister, Harley, were there to take their picture with Josselet.

Only now, Dusty was doing so as a kindergarten student at Alcorta Elementary.

“It was great to see her again,” Josselet said. “I have a connection with that family that will last well past elementary school, middle school, and high school. There’s a great connection with Dusty. When I see her in the hallway or her classroom, I see a precious gift. It’s fantastic to see her face, to see her laughing and smiling, and to know she’s living her best kindergarten life.”

Josselet said it was her instincts that kicked in that August night in 2019, and they very well might have saved Dusty’s life.

“There was no time to think about it,” she said. “I was standing with two staff members, and they said, ‘You were there, and then you weren’t.’ There was no thought process. It was a kid in trouble, and your instincts just kick in. I had to do the same technique on my daughter when she was 16 months old. She had been given a piece of hard candy by someone and she choked on it. I grabbed her and did much the same thing to her as I did to Dusty nine years later. I’ve been trained in this, and that training just kicked in.

“When you have time to think about it after it’s over, I’m very thankful I had the training, Josselet said. “I was hoping I would never have to use it, but I was grateful that when I had to use it, I knew what to do. Our family went to eat afterward, and I had big tears because I was thinking about what might have happened to that little girl if it had happened outside this building.”

And since that day when Josselet and Dusty became more than principal and student, they’ve taken a picture together at Meet-the-Teacher Night. That was no different in August 2022 as Dusty started her kindergarten year and big sister Harley began her fifth-grade year, the only year they’ll spend together on the same campus.

“Dusty is five now and looks forward to school every day,” said Stamper, who, along with her husband, Ronnie, are hoping to adopt both girls very soon. “She’s a very happy kiddo who loves playing house and playing in the mud … sometimes at the same time! I just thank God that Mrs. Josselet was there that night three years ago. I thought we were going to lose Dusty at that moment. But when I heard Dusty cry, I was so relieved. I held onto her and didn’t want to let her go. We are so appreciative of Mrs. Josselet’s quick thinking and action. She’s our angel. She and Dusty have had a special bond since that night. And every year, to start the year, Dusty always has a super big hug for Mrs. Josselet, and we take our picture.”